Detecting, identifying and visualizing research groups in co-authorship networks

The present paper proposes a method for detecting, identifying and visualizing research groups. The data used refer to nine Carlos III University of Madrid departments, while the findings for the Communication Technologies Department illustrate the method. Structural analysis was used to generate co-authorship networks. Research groups were identified on the basis of factorial analysis of the raw data matrix and similarities in the choice of co-authors. The resulting networks distinguished the researchers participating in the intra-departmental network from those not involved and identified the existing research groups. Fields of research were characterized by the Journal of Citation Report subject category assigned to the bibliographic references cited in the papers written by the author-factors. The results, i.e., the graphic displays of the structures of the socio-centric and co-authorship networks and the strategies underlying collaboration among researchers, were later discussed with the members of the departments analyzed. The paper constitutes a starting point for understanding and characterizing networking within research institutions.